Page - 31 - in Otto Bauer (1881–1938) - Thinker and Politician

otto bauer andhis time 31 was the socialisationof largeestates and the right topreserve their exclusive property.Nordidithaveanythingtooffertheruralpoor,sinceitdidnotprovide anysocialwelfare legislationsimilar to thatenjoyedbytheworkingclass. It is thereforeunsurprising thatBauer’sattempt toengagewith thepeasantrywas ultimatelyunsuccessful. Intheyears1921–6,Bauerenthusiastically joinedFriedrichAdler, thedeleg- atesoftheBritishIndependentLabourParty(ilp)andtheIndependentSocial DemocraticPartyofGermany(uspd) intheirefforts to facilitatearapproche- mentofthecentristSocial-Democraticpartiesthathaddriftedapartafter1918. TogetherwithFriedrichAdler,heattemptedtorebuild the International.One expression of this aspiration towards unitywas the founding of the Interna- tionalWorkingUnionof Socialist Parties, the so-calledVienna International, at theViennaconventionfrom22–7February1921.Because its ideologicalori- entationlaysomewherebetweentheSocialistandCommunist internationals, theorganisation,whichunited20parties from13countries,wasalsoknownas the2½International. Bauer’s voicewasdecisive indetermining its program- matic line. Themain statements focusedon the struggle against imperialism and counter-revolution, the two-stage revolution as outlined by theAustro- marxist doctrine (the political revolution first, then gradually the economic and social revolutions), and the establishment of diplomatic and economic tieswith Soviet Russia. At the time, Bauerwas convinced that themutually opposingmethodsof SocialDemocrats andCommunists could somehowbe reconciledwiththecommoninterestoftheinternationalworkers’movement. Hebelieved that a common theoretical approach to the class struggle could be drafted. This turned out to be impossible, as the rift within the interna- tionalworkers’movementdeepenedeven further.The lifespanof theVienna International was amere two years, its demise coincidingwith the dissolu- tion of theuspd and the defeat of the ilp. The relative insignificance of its successes testified to theweaknessof centrist and leftist tendencies inSocial Democracy. Bauer, still dedicated to the idea of unification, initiated a con- vention of the executives of all three internationals in Berlin from2–5April 1922–yet themeetingdidnot result inanagreement.Hewasanactiveparti- cipantinthefoundingcongressoftheLabourandSocialistInternational(lsi), inHamburg from21–25May1923,wherehegaveaprogrammatic talk–Bauer belongedtothebureauandexecutiveofthelsi.Inhispresentation,hemadeit clearthathepreferredthefreeplayofforcesandparliamentarymeansofclass struggle,pleadingforthegradualrealisationofsocialismundertheconditions ofabourgeois-democraticrepublic. The real politicalmuscle of the sdapwas systematicallyweakenedwhen thepartyjoinedtheoppositionuponBauer’sadvicein1920.Inturn,thepower